Vlastimil Kroupa

Vlastimil Kroupa
Date of birth	April 27, 1975
place of birth	Most , Czechoslovakia
size	196 cm
Weight	92 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1993 , 2nd round, 45th position San Jose Sharks
Career stations
until 1993	HC Litvínov
1993-1997	San Jose Sharks
1997-1998	Albany River Rats
1998-1999	Kansas City Blades
1999-2000	Mosquitoes eat
2000-2001	HC Sparta Prague
2001-2005	HC Litvínov
2005-2008	HC Oceláři Třinec
2008-2011	HC Litvínov

Vlastimil Kroupa (born April 27, 1975 in Most , Czechoslovakia ) is a former Czech ice hockey player . He last played between 2008 and 2011 for his hometown club HC Litvínov in the Czech extra league on the position of defender . During his career he was active for the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils in the National Hockey League and the Mosquitos Essen in the German Ice Hockey League .

Career

Kroupa first went through the junior division of HC Chemopetrol Litvínov . After being at the age of 17 years in the 1992/93 season his first games in the highest Czech league had completed that elected him San Jose Sharks in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft in the second round at the 45th spot and took him to equal North America. The following four seasons until the end of the 1996/97 season, spent the defender between the NHL roster and minor league - farm team of the Sharks. Even the move to the New Jersey Devils in August 1997 brought no change, as Kroupa was still mostly used in the farm teams.

After five seasons in North America, in which he had only played 105 games in the NHL, the Czech moved back to Europe in autumn 1999. He signed a one-year contract with Moskitos Essen in the DEL . After another one-year engagement with HC Sparta Prague in the 2000/01 season, he returned to his home club in Litvínov, where he was under contract until the summer of 2005. From the beginning of the 2005/06 season to the end of the 2007/08 season he played for league rivals HC Oceláři Třinec before returning to Litvínov.

In 2011 he ended his career.

International

Kroupa represented the Czech national team three times at international level. In addition to participating in a Junior European Championship and a Junior World Championship, he played at the Senior World Championship in 1997 and won the bronze medal.

Achievements and Awards

• 1993 bronze medal at the U18 European Junior Championship
• 1997 bronze medal at the world championship
• 1998 AHL All-Star Classic

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	5	105	4th	19th	23	66
Playoffs	2	20th	1	2	3	25th

Web links

• Vlastimil Kroupa at hockeydb.com (English)
• Vlastimil Kroupa at legendsofhockey.net (English)